


Body, Mind, and Soul

by QueenSerenity



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Gen, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-01
Updated: 2013-04-01
Packaged: 2017-12-07 04:45:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 10,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/744395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenSerenity/pseuds/QueenSerenity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagome takes time off to study. Who is this new boy in her school, and where does she know him from? Read to find out!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Student

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize doesn't belong to me. Anyone you don't, does. Especially Kusaraku Fujii. He's my pride and joy.

Kagome was exhausted… both physically and mentally. Her body was sore from the stress of all the traveling and fighting to claim jewel shards; she wasn't a hanyou like Inuyasha!

As for her being mentally worn out, well, you would be, too, if you had to constantly worry about reclaiming pieces of a jewel so that you could prevent demons from gaining power.

But those worries weren't the worst. Her worst worries were for school. She was falling further and further behind, and she could barely understand around sixty-five percent of the work. At this rate, she was going to fail, no question.

And so she had put her foot down. She was going home for two weeks, no arguments. Inuyasha was, needless to say, royally pissed, but Kagome wouldn't take no for an answer. She had to study; she had a life in her own time, too, after all!

When she arrived home, it was early evening. After greeting her family and taking any messages that had been left for her, she took a nice, long, extra soothing bath. After that, she retreated to her room to go to bed extra early; she planned to be extra rested the next day so that she could concentrate.

The next day, Kagome ran into one of her friends on the way to school.

"I'm so glad you're back, Kago-chan," said Yumi, "and you picked a perfect time, too!"

"What do you mean?" Kagome looked curious.

"Well, just yesterday we got a new student; a boy!"

"Really?"

"Uh huh! And he's a  _real_  cutie. With intense eyes that you would  _not_ believe. He almost got in trouble with the teacher!"

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"Well, when the boy first came in, Mr. Tanaga started ranting at him that boys in this school aren't allowed to wear make-up, 'cause it looks like this boy wears eye-shadow. Turns out, though, his eyelids naturally look like that. He had to prove it and everything."

"Geeze!"

"But after that, he had no more problems. See, he's real quiet, and real smart, too. There wasn't a single question asked of him that he didn't get right. HEY!" Yumi grinned as she had an idea. "I bet he could tutor you if you asked him, Kagome. Really, he's like a genius."

Kagome frowned slightly, blushing, embarrassed at how badly she was doing in school. "I dunno… maybe. What's his name?"

"Kusaraku Fujii. Just one thing about him that's a pity, though." Yumi pouted slightly.

"What's that?"

"Well, he doesn't seem to be too fond of girls. Half the girls in class were flirting with him, 'cause he's so cute, but all he did was scowl at them and look disgusted."

Kagome shrugged at this. "Maybe he just wants to concentrate on school."

By then, they'd arrived at school. They were a bit early, though. Most of the students were milling around in the schoolyard. Yumi looked around for a moment, and then gasped slightly. "There he is! See, Kagome? That's him!"

Following the direction that her friend was pointing in, Kagome's eyes landed on a young man sitting in the shade of a tree, his nose in a book, his legs stretched out before him in a casual position.

"Go ask him about tutoring! You've got time now!"

"I don't know, Yumi, he probably wouldn't want bothered…" Kagome went to turn back to her friend, but Yumi was gone. Looking around, she found the girl chatting with a gaggle of other girls.

Letting out a sigh, Kagome looked back over to the new guy.  _Well, I might as well… I really need to pass this next test._

Sighing again, she made her way over to the boy.

"Excuse me, Fujii-san?" Her voice was timid; she  _really_ hated having to ask for help studying… she felt like it made her look stupid, and she definitely wasn't stupid.

Kusaraku didn't even look up from his book when he answered her. "Yes?"

Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat. "Umm… I'm very sorry for disturbing you. I heard that you just recently joined the class I'm in, and so, since I wasn't here yesterday, I thought it might be polite to introduce myself. My name is Kagome Higurashi."

Kusaraku sighed, sounding a bit annoyed, and carefully marked the place in his book before closing it and getting gracefully to his feet, speaking as he did so. "You obviously already know my name, so I won't bother saying it." When his eyes finally fell on Kagome, they narrowed slightly in surprise. "Have I met you somewhere before, Higurashi?"

Now that he was standing, Kagome could get a better look at Kusaraku, whose skin was quite pale. His hair was an unusual length for a present-day boy, especially one who went to school. Braided and black, it reached his waist. His bangs, split in the middle, just reached his eyebrows. His eyes, which were framed by thin-rimmed reading glasses, were, as Yumi had said, very intense; they were a strange brown color with a reddish tinge to them. Also, as Yumi had said, it looked as though he were wearing pale blue eye-shadow, except that it didn't look powdery or anything.

Kagome shook her head. "No, I don't think so…" She frowned slightly. "But I can see why you ask. For some reason, your features seem very familiar to me…" Her brow furrowed as she tried to think where she'd seen him before.

Kusaraku sighed slightly and took off his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose as though he could feel a headache coming on. When he opened his eyes again, Kagome saw him without the glasses. The girl let out a gasp.

"Naraku!"


	2. Wierdness

"Naraku!" As Kagome stared at this supposed new student, the circuits in her brain fired more rapidly than usual, sending thoughts rushing through her brain as she stared in shock. Oh God he's here he's actually right here right here in front of me I have no weapons I'm defenseless my friends are all in danger oh God Inuyasha I need Inuyasha! But no I can't leave him alone when I'm gone he'll kill my friends and it'll be all my fault oh no what do I do?

"Eh?" His glasses back on, Kusaraku raised an eyebrow at the girl - Higurashi. "No, my first name is not Naraku, but Kusaraku, not that we are on a first-name basis…" He looked at the girl, who had a stunned look upon her face. The stunned look changed quickly to one of terror as she backed away, step by step, before turning away and running off.

What was that all about? He wondered. His thoughts were interrupted when the school bell rang, signaling that it was time for classes to start.

Kagome now sat in class, and the teacher was lecturing to everyone on some math subject, but, even though she really should have been, she was not listening to him.

He sat just two desks to the right of her. Naraku. She kept glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, sweating. Why was he here? How the heck did he get here? WHY was he here?

But there were several things weird about the situation, other than the obvious.

One: She didn't sense any jewel shards with him.

Two: She couldn't sense any evil or anything coming off of him.

Three: Other than thinking she looked a bit familiar, he didn't recognize her, it seemed.

Four: He didn't look completely like his usual self. It wasn't just the glasses and braid, either… he actually looked younger.

Five: If she didn't recognize him as Naraku, she would not have thought anything unusual about him. By the way he acted, he seemed as though he'd gone to school all his life… he looked like he was used to it, even if he did look a bit bored. He just seemed like a normal student, except for the fact that he seemed a bit… separate from the other students, if you know what I mean.

What the heck was going on? Was Naraku just acting like he didn't know her? What was his motive for being here? Was it her jewel shards that he wanted? Did he want to capture her and use her against Inuyasha? Was he maybe here just for the pleasure of seeing her in torment over his very presence?

She'd thought about skipping out on class for once to go get Inuyasha, but had decided against it; no way was she gonna leave him alone! He could kill everyone she cared about in an instant.

All that she knew for sure was this: She needed to find out exactly why he was here… she needed to figure out how the heck he had got through the well, and when. Lastly, she needed to figure out what to do about him… how to send him back through the well, namely, so that Inuyasha could finally give the bastard what he deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would anyone out there like to try to draw Kusaraku for me? Hmm? If you did, you'd have to be sure and put him in a boy's uniform for her school, like Hojo wears. For position, you could pick, but a possible one would be the way he was under the tree when he was reading in the first chapter. Or maybe you could drawing him standing with Kagome.


	3. Misunderstanding

At lunchtime, Kagome saw Naraku/Kusaraku pick up his tray and head outside to eat. She picked up her own tray and followed him; she wasn't gonna let him out of her sight! If she did, he might do something sneaky to one of the other students when she wasn't watching, like somehow place him or her under his control and make them do something truly nasty.

Kusaraku sat down to eat under the same tree which Kagome had first seen him under earlier that day. Situating herself behind some bushes some ten or twelve feet away, Kagome arranged herself to eat.

Watching Kusaraku as she ate, not even tasting whatever it was that the school had served her (it might have been dirt and she probably would not have noticed, she was so preoccupied), Kagome was puzzled; honestly, she didn't see anything unusual that he was doing. The guy barely even noticed what he consumed, it seemed (rather like she was right now), eating with one hand as he held up a book to read with the other.

He looked to be, for all the world, a normal, bookish junior-high boy.

Kagome heard a tapping sound as her fork connected with tray a couple of times, and looked down in surprise; she'd eaten all of her food! What had been for lunch today? She had no idea. It might have seemed comical, but she had no time or attention for funny stuff right now…

Setting the fork down upon the tray, she returned her attention to Kusaraku, only to gasp.

He was gone.

His tray and book was still there, but he had gone!

"Why have you been watching me, Higurashi?"

When the cool voice sounded from beside her Kagome almost jumped out of her skin. She looked up to see Kusaraku standing over her.

Kagome gulped; this was not good! "Umm… ummm… I'm not sure exactly what you mean, Fujii."

His eyes narrowed. "You're not exactly a good liar. I know exactly why you've been watching me."

She scrambled to her feet. "Eh!"

"You're afraid."

She was about two seconds from running… If it came down to it, she had nothing to fight him with… no bow, no arrows, no nothing!

She started inching away from him, trying to keep her face calm, at least. "Should I be? Afraid, I mean. Let's drop the pretenses, alright? Why exactly are you here, Naraku?"

A flash of annoyance crossed his face. "I already told you, that's not my name. Honestly, Higurashi, you must have a very poor memory.

"Anyway, you're the one who's pretending… but you have no reason to be afraid. Your friend, Yumi, told me why you came to talk to me this morning. I don't know why you didn't get up the courage and just ask me, and honestly I don't really care… I'm just telling you that I'd have no problem with helping you study, if you really need it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I should throw some romance in this fic between Kagome and Kusaraku, or just give a friendship. Whatcha all think?


	4. Offer Made

Kagome couldn't believe it. Here she'd gotten all panicked, and yet it seemed that this guy… Naraku?… was just offering to help her study! It was like he was being… nice? Naw, couldn't be.

Her mind worked furiously as she stared, open-mouthed, at Kusaraku, who was watching her with an odd expression on his face. He was offering to help her study… how could she use that against him? Should she decline? Accept? When she really thought about it, there was really no question to it. She had to accept, as she had to investigate him, and this would be the perfect chance to do so. After all, he could only keep up the act for so long before he messed up, right?

Part of her nagged at her… what if this wasn't Naraku?  _No…_ She told herself firmly.  _He is Naraku. He has to be. I'm positive of it._  That's when the idea came to her: She could study with him, as he was offering. Just this once, she decided, she did  _not_  need Inuyasha. She would handle this herself, as well as she could… she would observe him, and figure out why the hell he was here.

She forced a sheepish smile onto her face. "Yeah, that's exactly what I need… it's just that it's so hard to ask, 'cause it's a bit embarrassing, you know? It makes me feel like you'll see me as stupid, or a ditz. Not to mention, you probably have your own studying to do…"

Kusaraku shook his head. "I told you, I'd have no problem with helping you. My own studies are easy enough for me, and with how much school I've heard that you miss, you obviously need the help, Higurashi. Speaking of which, you should have yourself examined by a physician, what with the number of assorted illnesses which I have heard you acquire so often. It looks like you're healthy now, though, at least."

At this, Kagome nodded, slight crimson embarrassment spreading across her face. "So… you'll help me, Fujii?"

He nodded. "Meet me here after school, and you can come with me to my home… alright? Unless, of course, you would prefer for us to study at your own home. I really couldn't care less either way."

Thoughts ran though Kagome's head, rushing through quickly as they had so often been doing all day.

_His house… it's his house. His territory. It could very well be a trap._

_If I go there, I might never return, for all I know._

_Inuyasha and the others would never know what happened to me… but Inuyasha would maybe come through and be able to sniff him out, and then he'd avenge me hopefully._

_My house… my family's there. I'd be putting them in severe danger._

_Honestly, it's not really a choice, is it?_

Reaching her decision, Kagome gave Kusaraku a dazzlingly bright smile, hoping the fear in her eyes wasn't showing yet again. "Your place would be great, thank you. My house'll be empty at the usual time I get home, so it wouldn't exactly be proper, you know?"

Kusaraku nodded. Just then, the bell signifying the end of lunch sounded. Both the two bid their goodbyes, heading back to class.

As he made his way through the hallways back to class, Kusaraku found himself thinking…  _Why would I go out of my way and offer to help her study?_ He wondered.  _Normally, I wouldn't bother with any of those pitiful schoolgirls… they're all alike; hormonal, gossiping twits._  He pictured her face, and a strange expression crossed his face as he thought of her.  _Damnit, how do I know her? She seems so familiar, and yet I know I've never seen her face before… I always remember faces…_


	5. Studying

Even before she went there, Kagome had an image of Kusaraku's house in her mind… because of his personality and the way he held himself, he seemed like he'd be well-to-do. The image in her mind was of an old, but well-kept mansion, probably enshrouded in shadows, or something like that.

She certainly hadn't pictured what was before her now: A very shabby-looking house, one story, with an overgrown, weed-covered yard. The house itself looked like it would fall down if you stepped wrong.

Kusaraku looked at his house and sighed before going up the walk to open the door. "This is it. Come on in, Higurashi."

When they got inside, Kagome started to take her shoes off, but he stopped her. "Don't. You never know what you'll step on in here."

A rather harsh voice came from the next room. "What's that? You home, boy?" A moment later, a man came into the hallway, and a rather… distinct smell came with him. Kagome wrinkled her nose slightly at the stench as the man glanced at Kagome. "You brought a girl home? Good, I knew your hormones would kick in someday!"

The man, who had a rather prominent beer belly and was bald on top, looking nothing like Kusaraku, looked Kagome up and down, then grinned lecherously, slapping Kusaraku on the back. "Nicely done, son, I knew my love juice was good for something!"

Flushing in both anger and embarrassment, Kusaraku moved away from his father, grabbing Kagome by the sleeve and pulling her after him until they had reached his room.

Inside his room it was much different then the rest of the house… it looked like Kusaraku had at least tried to fix it up a little, and it was much cleaner, and smelled normal.

He looked really embarrassed. "I must apologize for my father. He's…"

Kagome stopped him. "Don't worry, I understand…" She noticed a photo on the wall of a lovely woman with pale skin and long black waves of hair. "Who's that?"

He looked away. "It's my mother… she died a long time ago."

"Oh!" Kagome's hand went to her mouth. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "Don't be. She died when I was born, so I never knew her… you can't miss what you never had."

They sprawled out on the floor to study, and everything went normally. In fact, it went better than normal, since it turned out that Kusaraku was just as smart as Kagome had heard, and he made everything that seemed so hard before so much easier to understand.

Before she knew it, it was time to go home. Kusaraku offered to walk her home, but she declined.

As she walked home, Kagome couldn't help but feel confused.  _I was so sure that he was Naraku… but he acts almost completely normal… but he's not completely normal, I can sense it._

_Oh man, what am I supposed to do?_


	6. Nikako and Hotaru Fujii

After Kagome went home, Kusaraku went to the kitchen and fixed himself some mixed ramen just the way he liked it, beef-flavored with extra bullion, onion powder, and garlic. Once it was finished, he drained the juice, mixed in a can of mushrooms, and took it to his bedroom, determined to avoid his old man as usual.

He always avoided the man. Nikako Fujii, once a very proud man, had let himself… break, so to speak. When Kusaraku's mother, Hotaru, had been pregnant with him, the two had been going to college, studying to be scientists… the field of Bio-Engineering, to be specific.

However… when Kusaraku had been ready to be born, he had been positioned in a way that he couldn't come out naturally, so the doctor had had to do a cesarean section on her.

At first, they thought everything had gone fine. A couple of days after Kusaraku had been born, they all went home and were as a family. Both Nikako and Hotaru got a month off a college, so that they could get used to the new baby.

But the happy family was not meant to stay together.

Just about two weeks after the baby had been brought home, Hotaru started to experience severe back pains. She called the doctor, but they simply said that it was normal, and that she was to stay active. A day later, she started hemorrhaging, blood pouring out of her, just gushing out, not stopping.

They tried to stop it, but they couldn't. The nearest hospital was about forty-five minutes away, and, just before they made it there, Hotaru just… died. She closed her eyes, and didn't open them again… She died of blood loss.

What had happened, as it turned out, is that the doctors had messed up on something when they were working inside of her, so, if you chose to look at it that way, it was really their fault that she had died.

After Hotaru had died, Nikako had never bothered to return to pursue his education or career any further… with his wife had died the fire which had once burned so brightly within him. He did the things necessary to care for his child, but that was all… he stopped taking care of his house, and his self, more and more… until he had ended up as he was now… a pathetic excuse for a man, in which could no longer be seen who he once was.

From early on, it had been obvious that Kusaraku was much smarter than the average child. He was able to read by age three, and his mind devoured anything he could get his hands on… including, eventually, even his parents' college books. He was, in short, a genius.

When he started going to school, it wasn't long before his father was offered the chance to allow his child to skip a grade. However, this wasn't what Kusaraku wanted, and so his father complied… his father let the boy do about whatever he wanted, as long as he stayed out of trouble mostly.

And he did stay out of trouble… but he didn't have friends… not even the smart kids were his friends. He simply didn't need friends, and made it obvious… there was no reason for friends. A few kids tried to pick on him, but, for some reason, all he had to do was look at them with those eerie eyes of his and then he would be left alone… he wasn't normal, and the other children could sense, deep down, that this was not one whom they should bother.

A couple of years later, Kusaraku decided, though, that he was dissatisfied with the school that he was in… so he arranged to be transferred, and had his father sign the papers. It was done.

For some reason, he felt like starting over once in a while…

Every couple years, he'd have himself transferred again, and that was how he'd ended up in the current school which he was in.

For the past few years, he'd encountered a new problem… a minor one, but an annoying one, nevertheless. He was getting undesired attention from the girls in the schools… they seemed to think that he was pleasing to the eyes. Some of them even visibly drooled. All in all, it disgusted him… the whole situation of boyfriends and girlfriends was something he saw no reason to be involved with… it looked to him as though it were nothing more than a pitiful situation with people running around, letting themselves be told what to do by their hormones.

Pitiful, really.

Finishing up with his food, he set the now-empty bowl on the table beside him for him to wash in the morning.

And then he lay himself down to go to sleep.

That night, he dreamed… he dreamed a  _lot_ , which was unusual for him. And the dreams… they seemed to be so real.

In one part of the dream, there was a young woman there who looked remarkably like him… like she could be his sister or something, except that her ears were pointed. Another one was a little girl with long white hair and dark eyes like an abyss. And then there was a monk with what seemed sort of like a black hole or something in his hand, and a little fox-child, and a young woman toting an enormous boomerang.

The three figures he saw most, however, were these three… a woman who looked like she could be Kagome's older sister almost, with skin as pale as ivory, dressed in the garb of a miko… a young man, dressed all in red, with long silver hair, white dog ears, golden eyes, and claws; he carried a long sword, and always seemed to be fighting Kusaraku… lastly, was someone he had seen in real life. Kagome… she was scattered all throughout the dreams... and, in the last part… her brown eyes, usually so gentle-looking, were filled with fear, loathing, and even fury as she stared at him. A look of determination made its way into the brown orbs as she lifted a bow and fired an arrow at him, and then…

He woke up, sweating, his whole body feeling as though it were covered in fire from the neck down.

He stared down at his hands, which had, in the dream, been clawed sort of like that silver-haired guy's. What the hell kind of dreams were these? They were so… real… like none he'd ever had before. In fact, he'd never even been able to remember his dreams before this.

Was this somehow connected to Kagome?


	7. Who Are You?

After she left his house on Friday, Kagome didn't see Kusaraku for the rest of the weekend. She spent that time doing some of her backed-up homework, some of which seemed a lot easier now… Kusaraku actually had been able to explain some things to her quite well.

When she went back to school on Monday, she felt rather refreshed, and happy, too, that she actually had some stuff which she could turn into her teachers.

Later, during lunchtime, she seated herself comfortably outside to eat, enjoying the nice weather of the day. It didn't take her long to finish eating, since she wasn't that hungry. When she was done, she pushed her food away from her and took a sketch pad and charcoal pencil out of her bag. She'd been working on her drawing skills lately and they'd gotten pretty good… currently, she was working on a sketch she'd been doing of Inuyasha.

A few minutes later, a shadow fell over her from behind, blocking her light. Before she could look up, though, Kusaraku sat down beside her. "Hi, Higurashi… how was your weekend?"

Kagome looked up to answer him. "My weekend was fine… I studied a lot…" She paused to look at him, really look at him. He looked like he had gotten little sleep, dark circles under his eyes, and his pale skin looked a bit sickly. She frowned, concern coming into her eyes. She'd stopped thinking he was Naraku… though she still couldn't help being a bit suspicious… "Is there something wrong, Fujii? You look… kinda sick. Like you've not been getting sleep."

He gave a forced laugh. "I'm fine. Just was up late studying…" His attention turned to Kagome's sketchpad, and a look of shock flickered across Kusaraku's eyes, but it was gone before Kagome could even be sure it had been there. "Who… who's that in your drawing?"

Kagome looked down at her sketchpad, and sweatdropped. "Oh, it's just an imaginary character I made up for a story." Her laugh was just as forced as Kusaraku's had been. "What, you think someone would have dog ears in real life?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Well, I'd better go… the bell's about to ring."

"Alright… bye…" Kagome frowned after he left.  _Up late studying… yeah, right, like he needs to. I wonder what's wrong?_

For the rest of the school day, Kagome had the strangest feeling that she was being watched… but every time she looked at Kusaraku, he was just watching the teacher. The same feeling bugged her as she walked home that day.

She paused outside her house, looking over at the building that the well was in. She went inside it, peering into the well.  _Maybe I should visit Inuyasha… he's probably already wondering where I am, and I could just stay for like an hour or so…_

Her thoughts were interrupted when the light shining in from outside was blocked. She turned around and gasped. "Fujii-san, what are you doing here!"

Kusaraku Fujii stood there in the doorway, a strange look on his face as he stared at her. It was a moment before he answered. "…who are you!"

Kagome made a face. "Ummm… you already know who I am. Kagome Higurashi."

Before she knew it, Kusaraku had stepped forward and grabbed her by the shoulders roughly, causing her to let out a gasp of pain. "That's not what I mean and you know it, Higurashi… who are you, really! Who was that guy in the sketch!"

"I-, I…" Fear made its way onto Kagome's face as she tried to pull away, but couldn't. Kusaraku's face was maybe two inches from hers, and she could see the slightly crazed look in his eyes.

"Who's that girl that looks like you? The monk, the fox-child, the white-haired child… all of them, who are they! I can't stop dreaming of them all, or that guy… I can't stop dreaming of you, trying to kill me! I don't dream… I never dream. You caused this, Kagome, didn't you! ANSWER ME!"

Kagome was finally able to wrench away from him, but as she stepped back she came into contact with the edge of the well and tumbled over it, starting to fall in.

A look of alarm flashed on Kusaraku's face and he grabbed her arm to try and save her, but was pulled in, too…

And they both fell…


	8. Uh Oh

They landed at the bottom of the well rather hard, Kusaraku landing on top of Kagome.

After catching her breath, Kagome flailed her arms wildly, trying to get out from under Kusaraku's dead weight.

_Wait a sec… dead weight?_

As Kagome pried him off of her, it didn't take her long to realize that Kusaraku wasn't moving. Examining him, she noticed a thin trickle of blood running down the side of his face from a cut on his head.

"He must have hit it on the way down…" she murmured. She bit her lip lightly, looking down at his prone form.  _What was wrong with him? Why was he acting like that? He seemed a bit crazed, but still… he didn't seem like Naraku._

"Who am I? The question is, who are you?" Kagome spoke this aloud, looking down at him, trying to figure out what to do.

"Kagome, is that you? I thought little miss high and mighty had to get away for a while!" At the sound of this aggravated voice, Kagome looked up to see Inuyasha's face peering down at her.

She frowned up at him. "Inuyasha, get down here and help me! This guy accidentally fell through the well with me, and I think he's kinda hurt. He's too heavy for me, so…"

"Yeah, yeah. You want me to help take him to the village." Inuyasha jumped down nimbly and threw Kusaraku over his shoulder, causing Kagome to wince at the thought of his head wound.

"Careful, Inuyasha!"

As they made their ways across the short distance to the village, Kagome watched Inuyasha carefully. If she had been wrong, and this was actually Naraku, then Inuyasha would surely smell it… but his nose didn't so much as twitch as he walked.

So, then, who was Kusaraku?

When they got to Kaede's hut, Inuyasha laid Kusaraku down a bit roughly, causing Kagome to wince again and glare at the hanyou. She proceeded to shoo him from the hut.

"Out of here, please. I need to tend to his wounds, I'll explain later. In the meantime… Do me a favor, please, and go ask Sango to come see me here. She might be by the stream where she and Kirara relax when we're here… have her bring some water with her, please, so that I can bathe his wound. I have something I need to ask her. You and Miroku stay away, though… no males allowed in here except for the patient."

Inuyasha frowned, but grudgingly agreed. He still remembered the barrage of sits she'd unleashed upon him when he had tried to stop her from leaving the other day, and his back ached at the very thought of another one right now.

Once he was gone, Kagome looked over at Kaede, who looked at her questioningly. Writing on a piece of paper she'd left on an earlier trip, she said:

I don't want Inuyasha to hear, so keep quiet. I'll explain when Sango gets here.

Once Kaede had nodded, Kagome proceeded to prepare another note for Sango. She didn't trust Inuyasha not to eavesdrop.

When Sango showed up with the water, Kagome thanked her, and simply said that he was a new student at her school who had accidentally fallen through the well with her. Sango looked doubtful, but nodded.

Kagome quickly heated the water, then, bathing a cloth in it, proceeded to gently clean Kusaraku's wound, which wasn't as bad as she had thought, and had already stopped bleeding. When done, she held up her note for both Sango and Kaede to see.

I'm going to show you both something, but, whatever you do,

PLEASE don't freak. I need you to not talk, because Inuyasha might be nearby, and I know how he would react to this. Anything you need to say, just write it on this paper, okay?

Both gave Kagome quizzical looks, but nodded in ascent.

Slowly, carefully, she removed Kusaraku's glasses and undid his braid so that his hair fell in dark waves around him. Looking from Kaede's face to Sango's, Kagome delicately pulled up one of Kusaraku's eyelids so that the eye-color could be seen. Sango let out a gasp and started to say something, but Kagome silenced her by holding up her hand, looking alarmed. Trembling in anger, Sango reached for Kagome's pen and paper.

Naraku! How could you bring him here, Kagome? What

happened! How could you?

Kagome shook her head and wrote her reply.

I thought it was him at first, too. But it's not, I'm sure of it. I've been around him the past few days, and I couldn't detect a thing. His name is Kusaraku Fujii. However, from what he said before we fell in the well, he's been having dreams that… seem to be Naraku's memories… ever since he met me. What could it mean?

Kaede, who had been reading the notes, held out her hand for the paper and pen.

I have a theory on what it could mean.

At their questioning looks, she continued.

Kagome, ye look remarkably like my sister, Kikyo, do ye not? And some of her powers passed down with ye. As soon as I saw ye, I knew ye to be Kikyo's reincarnation. Perhaps the same is true of this boy here. Perhaps he is the reincarnation of that vile Naraku. I would not be surprised if demons had reincarnations, too.

Strangely, this made sense. Nodding, Kagome spoke out loud. "This wound isn't as bad as I thought… it doesn't even need bandaged. Sango, do you want to come with me for a walk? I need to stretch my legs and think and I don't think my friend here will be awakening for a while…"

Sango agreed and stood to leave with her.

Once they were a respectable distance from the hut, and could see that Inuyasha wasn't nearby, Sango spoke.

"What are you going to do, Kagome?"

Kagome looked helpless. "I honestly don't know. I have two options; one, I can just take him back through and refuse to tell him anything… or two, I can tell him the truth about what's going on."

Sango started to answer, but was interrupted by what sounded next. Both girls turned when they heard Kaede's alarmed-sounding yell, and ran off in the direction of the hut.

When they reached it, the sight that greeted their eyes wasn't exactly pleasant.

Miroku stood by, watching. Kaede looked alarmed, and had obviously yelled out for them.

And Inuyasha…

Inuyasha was standing, his hand around Kusaraku's throat. He had the awakened boy lifted off of the ground, his claws digging slightly into his throat, and his lips were bared in a snarl.

"Damn you, Naraku. I don't know how you fooled Kagome, but you must really be an idiot if you think you could trick me this easily. You're stupid to have come here… now I can finally kill you, you bastard!"

Meanwhile, Kusaraku's face was steadily becoming blue from lack of air, and his eyes were filled with unbelievable terror.

Kagome did the only thing she could do.

"SIT, BOY!"

Her voice rang out clear and Inuyasha was, as expected, slammed face-first into the ground of the hut. Only problem was, he still hadn't relinquished his hold on Kusaraku, who looked to be on the verge of passing out.

What happened next was something that no one had expected.

A strange light flashed then in Kusaraku's eyes and an immense wave of demonic energy shot outwards, knocking into everyone in the hut. Each and every one of them (except for Inuyasha, who was already on the ground) fell over, unconscious.

Except for one. Kusaraku, the source of the blast, was still conscious… barely. He scrabbled wildly at Inuyasha's deathgrip around his throat, and was barely able to free himself.

Getting to his feet, Kusaraku looked around, his eyes frantic. They were here!... Wherever here was. There was that one girl, and the monk, and… the dog-eared boy.

He needed out of here before that murderous dog-boy awoke again! Fear still in his eyes, Kusaraku fled, heading not for the village, but for the wilderness.

Naraku was sitting there all by his evil self, contemplating what next to do, when his thoughts were interrupted by another presence in the room.

He looked up to see his white-haired 'daughter', Kanna, standing there, her gaze as blank as deep as always.

"What is it, Kanna?"

Wordlessly, the girl held out her mirror for Naraku to look in it. When he peered into it, what he saw sent a look of shock onto his face, which for Naraku was a rare thing. Reflected in the mirror was… well, it almost looked like himself who was running through the forest, clothed in strange garments, looking like he was determinedly running from something.

Who was this?


	9. Fear and Confusion

When they all awoke, it was near sunset. Inuyasha was pissed. Very, very pissed.

"Damnit! He got away again!" His eyes narrowed and he let out a growl before getting in Kagome's face. "And it's YOUR fault, wench! Why the hell did ya sit me! Why ya tryin' to protect him!"

Kagome resisted the urge to shield her ears against the onslaught of shouting. Closing her eyes, an eyebrow twitching, an angry sweatdrop on her brow, she spoke two words.

"Sit, boy."

Glaring down at Inuyasha's now prone, facedown form, Kagome shouted, "You idiot! That wasn't Naraku, that was someone from my time, and now he's in danger because of YOU!" She stormed quickly out of the hut.

Sango and Miroku watched, bemused, as Inuyasha got up, growling under his breath. "I know what I saw, and that was Naraku!" He, too, stormed from the hut.

Less than a minute later, Shippo came in. "I was playing with the kids in the village, and just got back… Why's Kagome mad at Inuyasha this time?"

Sighing, Sango looked at Miroku, then Shippo. "I'll explain to you both as we follow them. Come on."

Kusaraku hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was scared. Very scared, and rather confused, too.

The last thing he remembered from before he awakened was talking to Higurashi, and then her falling, him trying to save her, and then darkness…

When he had awakened, he had barely had time to register that the surroundings were unfamiliar. He'd been attempting to gather his thoughts when someone had come into the hut to ask the old woman if he had awakened yet.

When Kusaraku had seen the speaker, his eyes had widened in shock. It was that silver-haired guy from Higurashi's sketch, from his dreams. With him also was the monk.

When the young man had looked down at him, his golden eyes had, like Kusaraku's own eyes, widened in shock. But then an unbelievable hatred and rage had flooded into them and, before he knew it, he was up off the floor and in the air, being held by the throat. Kusaraku rubbed at the painful marks on his throat in memory.

And then Higurashi had come in and yelled something at the silver-haired guy that caused him to be slammed into the ground, but he still hadn't released Kusaraku, so Kusaraku still couldn't breathe.

And right in that moment Kusaraku had been sure he was going to die. He didn't even know why, what he had done to make this person want to kill him, but he was going to die.

What had happened next was what confused him. As he was slipping into the darkness that had been calling to him, it was like something inside Kusaraku suddenly awakened and roared. No! He couldn't die! He had so much more to do, he wasn't done living yet!

There had been a surge of power in him like nothing he had ever felt, and then it was released in an immense shockwave that knocked out everyone in the room, including Higurashi.

When he was able to free himself, Kusaraku hadn't quite been able to think. All he knew is that all those people he had dreamed that hated him were there, including a silver-haired dog-boy who had obviously been intent on murdering him.

So he had run.

And now, here he was, lost in this forest, and it was getting very dark. From the patches of sky he could see through the treetops, he could tell that the sun was setting.

From the way the people he had seen had been dressed, other than Higurashi, it seemed almost as though they were dressed old-fashioned… like people had used to dress in ancient Japan.

And this forest… he knew that there was no forest this big in the city he was from. In fact, that he knew of, there really wasn't a forest within miles and miles of the city.

He didn't want to think on what all this meant, and he was getting tired, but he knew that when they awoke, that dog-boy and the others would be hunting him.

What was he to do?


	10. Arachnaphobics, Beware

Inuyasha crouched to the ground, sniffing. He frowned as he concentrated, and then pointed. "This way."

"Inuyasha," Miroku spoke up. "Just out of curiosity… this scent you're following, what does it smell like?"

Inuyasha looked like he didn't want to answer this, for some reason.

"Come on, Inuyasha," Sango prodded. "Answer the question. What does the scent smell like?"

Inuyasha, who was walking ahead of the rest of them, didn't even turn when he answered them. "A scared human," he admitted. "A really scared human. Along with a trace of something else, though I can't tell what it is, it's too faint."

Kagome, still sounding mad, spoke. "That's what I've been trying to tell you, Inuyasha! He's NOT Naraku. He's from my time, his name is Kusaraku Fujii, and he goes to my school. Kaede thinks he might be Naraku's reincarnation, though."

"EXACTLY!" Inuyasha exploded, whirling to face her. "You still should have let me kill him. If he's Naraku's reincarnation, that means he's Naraku. That's all we need, wench, is TWO of that bastard running around here, making trouble for us! When we find him, I'll kill him."

"SIT BOY! SITSITSITSITSITSIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIITTT!"

Kusaraku stopped moving again. He was really getting tired and had to stop to take a breath. Breathing heavily, he reached up to adjust his glasses, only to realize that they weren't there!

He looked around, a bit awed. Usually, without his glasses, he couldn't see worth a crap, but now everything seemed even clearer than they'd ever been before! What on earth was going on?

He heard the sound of a stream trickling nearby, and was reminded of how thirsty he was.

Moving towards the sound, he found a clear looking stream flowing. Kneeling by it, he moved to cup his hands to get some of the water only to get another surprise. His nails were now longer, and were a bit curved, now more like claws than nails. They looked kind of like the dog boy's nails had looked, like his own had looked in those weird dreams he'd had.

Looking at his reflection in the water, mottled slightly by the flow of the stream, he noticed that something about him looked a bit different, though he couldn't figure out exactly what it was. Without his glasses, and with his hair down, he looked almost… ethereal, or something, but he was sure that it wasn't just those two things. It was like there was a new aura or something about him. It was really, really weird.

And though he hadn't really noticed it until the first time he had stopped for a breather, his stupid birthmark on his back had been itching like crazy since he had got here. The birthmark was really weird, a large one that looked kind of like a deformed spider or something.

Just then, there was a rustling in the bushes, and before Kusaraku could react, a large reptilian… something burst from them. The thing was probably about seven feet tall, towering over Kusaraku.

The thing eyed Kusaraku like one might eye a particularly tasty treat. "Sss…. Sssuch a lucky day it isss for Nitu. It isss not often that tasssty humansss are foolisssh enough to wander thisss foressst."

Without further ado, the… thing… rushed towards Kusaraku.

By some miracle, Kusaraku was able to get out of the way, all the while his mind screaming at him.  _I-hate-this-place-I-hate-this-place-oh-man-I-am-seriously-gonna-die!_

It was then that the itching of his scar turned to an unbearable searing pain, and Kusaraku collapsed in agony. A sort of pulse of power went out from him and the reptilian creature, Nitu, took a step back, uncertain for a moment. What was its prey doing?"

Meanwhile, Kusaraku felt like he was going through hell. The burning on his back continued, as though someone had poured lava on his birthmark. And then, it felt to him like lines of fire were stretching from the birthmark to his sides and limbs.

Unseen by him, underneath his clothes, the 'legs' of his birthmark, which had turned black, were stretching. The top ones on either side of it spread out along his arms until they ended on his palms. The bottom 'legs' of the birthmark had stretched downwards, going down along the backs of his legs to end under the arches of his feet. And lastly, the two middle 'legs' on either side of the birthmark had spread to his sides, and, for a moment, seemed to sort of pool there like black ink.

A moment later, two sets of arms exploded out of Kusaraku's sides under his normal arms, the last four 'legs' of the birthmark stretching out respectively to each of Kusaraku's new palms. The four new arms were slightly thinner than his normal ones.

Realizing his prey was changing into something not-so-defenseless, the reptilian thing rushed at Kusaraku, but Kusaraku, without even thinking about it, leapt easily out of the way, actually leaping over the creature to land behind it. A moment later, Kusaraku slashed wildly at the creature with the deadly-sharp claws with all six of his upper limbs, and the creature screamed in pain.

The creature kept screaming, and at first Kusaraku couldn't figure out why. He knew he had hurt it, that much was obvious, but come on, this thing had looked tougher than that.

Than he smelled it. And saw it. The flesh of the creature around the wounds was sizzling, and it almost looked like the creature was slowly melting alive, as though acid had been poured through its veins. It was less than a couple of minutes before the creature's screams had died and it was nothing more than a pile of acid and gore.

Holding up his claws, Kusaraku was confused to see some sort of strange pale green fluid on the tips, smoking slowly. Examining them closely, he saw that it looked as though his claws had been secreting it.

Looking down at his six arms, Kusaraku started to tremble. Slightly at first, and then violently. What was he? What was happening to him?

He went back to the stream to rinse his claws, and was, needless to say, shocked at his reflection. Counting his legs, it seemed he now had a total of eight limbs. All across his visible skin spidered faint red veins. As he gaped at his reflection, he saw that his incisors were now slightly longer, and looked rather sharp, reminding him of a vampire.

Abruptly, he sat down. This was all too much. He had to figure out what to do.

He probably sat there for about fifteen minutes, his mind strangely blank, not really thinking about anything. Slowly, he calmed down. Feeling a strange sensation suddenly at his sides, he looked down to see that the extra four arms were now gone, though the rips in his once-crisp white shirt showed the evidence that they had been there.

Moving to look once more at his reflection, he saw that not only were the arms gone, but so were the spidery red veins. Also, the limbs of his birthmark had retracted to their original positions. Lifting up the back of his shirt to look, he saw that his birthmark was no longer its natural faint red, but rather an angry bloodred. Weird. However, his fangs were still there, along with his claws. Not that bad, though, when compared to the extra arms. Also, his claws weren't secreting anything anymore.

He sighed, and stood, not feeling tired at all anymore, for some strange reason. He started running again, in a slightly different direction than the one he had been going in. What he didn't really notice right away, however, was the fact that he was now moving at an inhuman speed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you guys don't hate Kusaraku's powers. See, his powers can't be exactly like Naraku's, because even if he is the dude's reincarnation, he doesn't have an assload of demons in him.
> 
> And to explain why he was so fast at the end… well, think of how fast wolf spiders and all kinds of spiders usually are when they run. shudders Same with the jumping. Really, though, I hope I did okay with his powers.
> 
> AND DO NOT THINK THIS MAKES HIM A HALF-DEMON. It does not. All will be explained, don't worry.


	11. But Look At Him!

Kusaraku had kept running, and had eventually come out of the forest, eventually stopping after he was a few minutes away from it.

He stared up in awe. Stars littered the sky above him, far more than he had ever seen… it was so much clearer than what he was used to. And so much more beautiful. But the strange thing was, he didn't see any 'stars' that you could tell were satellites which he was used to seeing at least a few of.

He had started moving again, but a little later he had stopped to sleep for a little bit by a tree.

And now, a few hours later when he awakened, it was dawn.

Up ahead, he saw a village, and after a moment's indecision, moved to a place where he wouldn't be seen, but where he could comfortably watch the people for a few minutes.

From watching them, he was somehow not surprised at what he was able to figure out.

Finished watching. He set off in a random direction (not the one he came from), and stopped again a bit later so that he could rest, and so that he could think about what he had discovered. The place he stopped at was a lush meadow, the plants of which sparkled in the morning sun with dew, making everything look a little newer, a little fresher than usual.

He wasn't exactly sure how, but he had somehow come to the past… the feudal era, it looked like.

And he had no idea how to get home.

Suddenly, a sound caught his attention, and he turned to see two figures on the other side of the meadow.

One of them was quite short, maybe a foot and a half tall, and most definitely wasn't human. With its bulbous eyes and pebbled green skin, the thing looked rather reptilian, or maybe amphibian. It was dressed in a brown robe and it held a staff that was at least twice as tall as itself, a staff with two heads; a woman's and an old man's.

The other figure was in huge contrast to the first. Tall, with long silvery white hair, gleaming golden eyes, and pointed ears, the figure, though resembling a human, was definitely not. He was (and Kusa was stunned to be thinking this… this was a guy, and so was he!) what could only be called supernaturally beautiful. Dressed in mostly white, he had some sort of fluffy thing over his shoulder, and Kusaraku could see that one of his sleeves hung too limply to contain an arm.

Staring at the figure, meeting his eyes and feeling the power that practically radiated from him, Kusaraku broke into a sweat. With the white hair and golden eyes, he resembled that dog-guy; he wasn't connected to him, was he?

From the way that the taller creature's golden eyes were focused upon him, Kusa could tell immediately that the figure had already seen that he was there, most likely before Kusa had even noticed him.

Just then, however, the shorter creature took notice of him, and gasped, pointing. "My lord! Look! It is that scoundrel, Naraku!"

 _That name again!_ Kusaraku thought, considering running, but deciding against it; he had a feeling that if this guy wanted to catch him, he would… and that he was not one to anger. _What is with that name? That dog-boy called me that, and so did Kagome when she first met me. Who in hell is this Naraku, and why does he have so many enemies!_

Moving just his eyes, the figure glance down at the toady creature, and then back at Kusaraku. He sniffed at the air lightly before speaking, his voice a bit deep with an aristocratic tone to it. "Calm yourself, Jaken. This is not Naraku."

"What!" The one called Jaken's voice was full of disbelief. "But… But Lord Sesshoumaru, look at him! How can you deny that it is him!"

Seeming not to hear his servant, Sesshoumaru approached slowly towards Kusaraku. Kusaraku took a step back, his fear welling up again, and the urge to run became suddenly very hard to fight. "L, look," he stammered, afraid that if this guy, too had a grudge against Naraku, he'd take it out on him. "Just leave me alone. Everyone keeps thinking I'm this Naraku, whoever the hell he is, but I'm not!"

Sesshoumaru stopped when he was just six feet away. Six feet that Kusa knew could be crossed in a millisecond if he wanted.

His golden eyes narrowed, he looked Kusaraku up and down, taking in his now-demonic features (his nails, fangs, etc.) along with his strange, ragged garb. His eyes settled on Kusaraku's, and he spoke once more. "You are not Naraku. Tell this Sesshoumaru who you are. You smell… rather like Inuyasha's woman does, in a way. You carry a scent that only she carries."

 _Inuyasha's woman? Well, at least he's not attacking me… yet. This Inuyasha… it sounds familiar, somehow. Could he possibly be…?_  Kusaraku thought before answering, trying to keep his voice from shaking. God, he really wished he could go home. "This… this Inuyasha, does he have hair and eyes kind of like yours? And his woman, what does she look like?"

The little toady dude, Jaken, spoke up. "How disrespectful! You do not answer my lord's question with ones of your own!"

"Hush, Jaken," Sesshoumaru quieted Jaken without taking his eyes off of Kusaraku. "Inuyasha… as much as this Sesshoumaru despises the fact, he is my younger brother and, like me, he shares our father's features. As to his woman… she is dressed in strange garments that are somehow like your own, but are inappropriately revealing. Now answer my question before I lose my patience."

 _Garments like mine… I think he means Kagome._ Kusaraku thoughts to himself, then decided he had better answer Sesshoumaru's question. My name is Kusaraku Fujii… and I think that perhaps the reason I smell like that girl you mentioned is because we are from the same… the same place."

"And why is it that you almost exactly like Naraku?"

Helplessly, Kusaraku shrugged, hoping his answer wouldn't piss the guy off. "Honestly, I don't know anything about Naraku other than that everyone thinks I look like him. I've never seen him, or even heard of him until a few days ago. This is how I've always looked."

For about a full minute Sesshoumaru stared at him, perhaps deciding whether or not to believe him. Finally, he spoke once more. "As you are obviously not Naraku, by both your manner and scent among other things, I will let you go. However, should you ally yourself with Naraku, who has made himself an enemy of my, then this Sesshoumaru shall kill you should we meet again."

And with that he left, the clearing once more, heading in a different direction, and his servant took off after him, calling for him to wait.

A very bewildered, but relieved, Kusaraku was left in the clearing.


	12. Chapter 12

They had been following the scent trail for a while now, and had had to stop once to rest. One time, Inuyasha had sped up his pace. "It's faint, but I smell fear…"

Kagome was worried, especially when they reached an area near a stream where they found a foul-smelling puddle of acid and gore. When Kagome saw it, she almost fell, and she looked afraid.

"That's not… is it? Please say it's not him, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha shook his head, wrinkling his nose in distaste at the smell. "No, it's not him. It's a… a demon. But I can still smell his scent left here, and something's weird about it…"

"What?" This was spoken in unison by all four of the others.

"The fear I smelled was his, and I think it was the demon that caused it. Thing is, though, his smell changes here."

Kagome's eyes widened. "It changes? What do you mean?"

"It's… well, it's a lot like a demon's now. And there's something else."

"Yeah?"

"The only smells here are this… what used to be a demon, and also Kusaraku. You realize what this means, don't ya?"

Kagome bit her lip. "It means that somehow Kusaraku's the one who killed this demon. Inuyasha… I'm worried."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "You damn well should be, Kagome. You may have to deal with the fact… that your friend might not be himself anymore. If he's a threat, you know what I'll have to do…"

The answer was silence…

The sun had been up about three hours when Kagome, Inuyasha, and the others came up close to a village. Inuyasha sniffed the air and his brow furrowed as he concentrated, then he changed direction, not heading towards the village, but towards a nearby meadow, instead.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" Miroku asked, frowning. "It would make more sense for us to head for the village… then we could ask the villagers whether or not they have seen any strangers. You never know, we might find some clues as to the whereabouts of Kusaraku."

Inuyasha shook his head, not stopping. "No, I'm on his scent, and it doesn't go into the village…" As they neared the meadow, he stopped again, sniffed sharply, and an angry-like expression came upon his face.

"What's wrong, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"Kusaraku was here… and he was scared again, but not the same fear as last time. And I think I know why he was scared."

Shippo jumped up and down. "Why, Inuyasha? Quit makin' us wait for the answer!"

Inuyasha rewarded the kitsune with a lump on the head before replying. "My brother was here, too, along with Jaken."

"He didn't do anything to him, did he?" Kagome's voice was worried.

"No… no, he didn't."

They continued on the path of the scent.

Later, Kagome broke the silence. "Inuyasha…"

"What?"

"When we find Kusaraku, I don't think it should be you who goes to him."

"You want to do it, don't you? You've got to be kidding me, Kagome, there's no way I'm gonna let you do that!"

Kagome shook her head, frowning. "I have to be the one. Face it, Inuyasha, you didn't exactly make a good impression on him. He sees you, he's gonna run like a bat out of hell, and if he really is changed, then we have no idea if you could catch him. The others, he doesn't know them. It has to be me. I'm really sorry, but right now this mess is your fault, so if you don't agree, too bad."

"Damn."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to figure out how to catch them up with him. Remember, Inuyasha has three mortals slowing him down, so I'd have to think of something that Kusaraku would stop for, or something that would slow him down.


End file.
